Flounders and Fishcakes
by CronicQuest
Summary: Naruto gets a strange present for his seventh birthday: Hiramekarei, the blade of Hozuki Mangetsu! How will this change our hero?
1. Chapter 0: The Guy who Flies the Plane

**Flounders and Fishcakes**

**Chapter 0: The Guy Who Flies the Plane**

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed as he walked up to the door. He had tried to open the scroll hundreds of times in the past 7 years, but all of his attempts had met with failure. He didn't want to give it to the boy, he really didn't, at least not while he didn't know what was inside. For all he knew, it could be an assassination attempt, hidden within a forgery. But he had no choice. The blood seal required someone with both Namikaze and Uzumaki blood to be opened, and there was only one person in the village that fit those requirements.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Hiruzen banished his worries and put on a smiling mask as he knocked on the door. It was the boy's birthday, there was no need to give him any unnecessary misery.

* * *

Naruto smiled as he saw the Sandaime walk up to his door. Although he hated his birthday, one thing that happened without fail is that the Hokage would come to his house, and give him a gift, and make him laugh. In fact, he could see his present in his jiji's hand. He grimaced when he saw that it was a scroll. _"He wants me to read? No way!" _thought Naruto. _"But maybe it has a super-cool jutsu inside, and when I learn it, I'll be able to take that hat from him! I'll definitely read it, -ttebayo!" _He ran towards the door of his apartment when he heard the knock from the other side. He opened it, and was greeted by the smiling visage of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Hello Naruto-kun. Happy seventh birthday!" greeted Hiruzen as he gave Naruto the scroll.

Naruto peered at the scroll, trying to discern its secrets. After a while, he tried to rip it open, but it wouldn't budge. "Jiji, what's with this thing?"

"It's from your parents, Naruto-kun." At hearing this, Naruto calmed down a little.

"What do you mean?" asked the boy.

The Sandaime chuckled. "Whatever's inside that scroll, is from your parents, or your father at least. They put a seal on it to make sure that only you can open it. You have to put some of your blood on this, you see?" Hiruzen pointed to the blood seal. "Come here, and I'll help you open it." A few minutes later, the scroll sat on the ground, ready to be opened. Hiruzen coughed to get Naruto's attention. "Well, Naruto-kun, I'll leave you to it. If you don't understand your gift, come to me, and I'll help you to the best of my ability. See you later, Naruto-kun." At that, the old Hokage left, but not before asking an ANBU to watch the boy, especially if the present seemed dangerous or was a weapon or jutsu of some sort.

* * *

Naruto looked down at his present eagerly. He gingerly grasped the scroll and pulling it downwards, he began to read.

_Hey Naruto._

_This is your tou-san here. If you're reading this, then that means me and your kaa-san didn't live long enough to give you this in person. We're sorry about that. But that doesn't matter. Today's your birthday, and birthdays are for happiness. Now, I doubt you even know my name, never mind who I was. So I'm going to tell you. But Naruto, you have to promise me that you will tell no one about this. I have many dangerous enemies that you won't be able to fight for quite a while. So keep it a secret that you know, alright? _Naruto subconsciously nodded and kept reading. _Okay, Naruto, you ready? My name is Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage and Konoha's Yellow Flash. _Naruto was shocked by this statement. He continued reading. _I know you're shocked, Naruto. But remember, no one must know. Now, I'm running out of ink, so I guess my time's up. There's a seal underneath this that has your real present. Do the same thing you did to open this scroll and it'll pop out. Naruto, make sure you always remember, your kaa-san and I love you very much, and we're always protecting you, even if you're dead. Guess that's all I have to say, huh. Be careful. Bye, Naruto._

Naruto sat back in disbelief. _"My tou-san... my tou-san was the Hokage! And not just any Hokage, the Yondaime, my idol!" _He looked towards the Hokage Monument. _"Now I'm definitely going to surpass you ... tou-san." _The blonde turned back to the scroll. He bit on his thumb hard enough to make it bleed and wiped it on the seal. Nothing happened for a second, before a huge, wrapped, ..._thing_ came out, accompanied by a book and a lot of chakra smoke. Naruto grabbed the book. "Hi-ra-me-ka-rei, by Man-getsu Ho-zu-ki. What's a hiramekarei? And who's this Hozuki Mangetsu guy? I'll go ask Jiji tomorrow." Naruto yawned. He went to take a nap, before the annual mob showed up and tried to knock down his door and keep him awake all night.

* * *

The next day, Naruto was found walking to the Hokage Tower, lugging along the thing that had come out of the scroll, and the book as well. He had tried to lift it back in his apartment, but he had found that it was _extremely_ heavy, and impossible for him to lift. It was a struggle for the boy to even pull the thing along. When he eventually got to the tower, he was sent in to see the Hokage.

"Hey Jiji!" shouted Naruto belligerently. "Do you know what a hiramekarei is? Oh, and who's Hozuki Mangetsu ?"

The venerable Hokage smiled at the question. "That's easy, Naruto-kun. Hiramekarei is a _Sōtō, _or Twinsword. It is one of the blades of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. It was the second-to last of the swords in the Mist's possesion, till a few years ago, when it was taken after an unknown shinobi defeated Hozuki Mangetsu, who was the wielder of Hiramekarei, and the leader of said swordsmen. If I may ask, why are you asking me this, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto scratched his head before answering. "Well, in the scroll, there was this thing, and this book, and the book is about Hiramekarei, and it was written by that Mangetsu guy." Naruto gestured to the bandaged thing he had gotten yesterday. Hiruzen looked at it, and was shocked when he _recognised_ it.

"Naruto-kun, could I take a look at that? And the book as well?"

"Sure Jiji!" Naruto handed over the two items. The Hokage looked at the thing, and was more and more surprised as he looked at it. He recognised everything, the two handles, the shape, the bandage wrappings, everything.

"Naruto-kun... I think that this thing is Hiramekarei. And not just some cheap knock-off, the real sword wielded by Hozuki Mangetsu! Naruto-kun, this thing is _legendary!_" Naruto's eyes widened.

"R-really!? Can I still keep it?"

"Yes Naruto-kun, yes! This is yours now."

Naruto broke out into such a huge grin, his face was in danger of ripping in two.

A scream of "YATTA!" was heard all over Fire Country at that moment.

* * *

A month later, Naruto was fidgeting outside the door. It was his first day in the academy, and he was nervous. He had taken to wearing Hiramekarei on his back, in the hopes that he could build up his strength enough to hold the sword. He calmed himself down, put on a wide grin, and walked inside the classroom. He saw a raven-haired boy with red eyes sniveling on the middle row. A white-haired and red-eyed girl was playing with a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. A light blue haired girl with sky-blue eyes was talking to a dog-like boy. Another boy with sunglasses and a long coat was playing with bugs, while a boy with hair shaped like a pineapple was sleeping next to a chubby boy with brown hair who was eating chips. He walked over to sit next to the girl with blue hair, touched the bench, and crashed through, due to the immense weight of Hiramekarei. As the class laughed at him, the teacher told him to stand outside for breaking the seat, unknowingly securing his position as the class clown and the dead-last.


	2. Chapter 1: Haddock

**Flounders and Fishcakes**

**Chapter 1: Haddock**

**Hello interwebz! I have taken quite a while to get this out, however it's here now. I would look at the pilot (that's what I meant with the title) again. There have been a few description changes.**

It has been a year since Naruto's first day at the Academy. He has made a few friends at his time there. Their names are Uchiha Sasuke, Senju Hinata, and Hiiro Sakura. He has read Mangetsu's book from cover to cover, and has learnt the basics of the Silent Killing taijutsu and kenjutsu styles, and the basics of its signature jutsu – Ninpō: Hiding in Mist Jutsu. Currently, he was trying to learn the Water Clone Jutsu.

Naruto stood at the lake with his hands pressed together in the tiger handseal, willing the water to suddenly rise and take on his shape. He had been at this for several days now, but still nothing had happened. _'Maybe I'm not using enough chakra?' _thought the boy. Believe it or not, but this was the case, as Naruto was use much more than enough chakra was needed for one clone, but his abysmal at best control just made the chakra flow through the water and dissipate in the air, wasting it. However, Naruto didn't know that. He removed his hands from the seal. "Maybe I'll get it tomorrow…" he grumbled.

As Naruto botched another attempt at the Water Clone Jutsu, Senju Hinata was having trouble with one of her own jutsu. She was gifted as her great-grandfather was in having the ability to combine two elements to create a unique bi-element. Not only that, but she was born with two natural elements; Lightning and Water. She planned on gaining the Earth element to recreate her great-tgrandfather 's Mokuton, however right now, she was working on the Ranton bi-element from her Lightning and Water element. She had learnt the basic jutsu, Ranton: Laser Circus, however when she tried to go past that to the next jutsu, Ranton: Fluid Sparking Whip, either it would act exactly the same as the original jutsu, do nothing, or blow up in her face. Her body has riddled with burn marks from the last time that had happened. The problem wasn't her control. The scrolls left by her mother on her chakra control exercises made sure of that. Neither was it her chakra output. Being a Senju, she was gifted with just as much more chakra that an Uchiha was. No, she just hadn't come across jutsus like that. She would get it soon enough. She left after a day of hard work to go and meet with her friends.

Uchiha Sasuke stared at his brother's grave. His two-tomoed Sharingan spun in the daylight, momentarily turning into the Mangekyō to read the message he had read a million times. "A-Aniki… Why? I-I… I can't do something like that… I can't… p-protect anyone…." snivelled Sasuke. He looked up at the sky. "N-Naruto and the others are waiting…" he said. He turned to leave, deactivating his Mangekyō, but retaining the original Sharingan. He took one last look at his brother's grave, and left.

Hiiro Sakura walked through the streets of Konohagakure. People were giving her a wide berth as they recognised her stark-white hair and blood-red eyes. Inwardly she scoffed. _'Three years ago you thought my hair and eyes were beautiful. What's happened since then?' _she asked herself sarcastically as she knew full well what had happened. And she wished it never had. Shaking the thought from her head, she continued on her way to meet with her friends.

Naruto turned up at the unused Training Ground 57; the meeting place of him and his friends. He was the first one to arrive. He went over to a tree and sat down in the shade. As the breeze blew through his hair and caressed his face, he slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep.

…

…

…

"HEY NARUTOOOO!"

Naruto's eyes shot open and he let out a shriek, scaring away all the small animals in the vicinity. He looked at the girl that was giggling at him that was lying on his torso. "I let you get me again, Hinata!"

"Well, it looks like you two have started without us. Again." The two of them turned their heads to look at the speaker, and saw Sakura standing there with her arms crossed and Sasuke beside her with a weak smile on his face.

"Hey Sakura! Hey Sasuke!" greeted Naruto.

"H-Hi Naruto. H-Hinata." replied Sasuke.

Hinata rolled off Naruto and onto her back, looking up at the two. "So, what are we gonna do today?" she asked the rest of the group.

"Don't you decide anyway? Just decide and be done with it." said Sakura.

"Okay then! We'll…"

Naruto opened the door to his apartment, soaked through to the bone. Hiramekarei's wrappings had been burnt through, and his shirt along with it. His muscles twitched from the residual lightning chakra left in them. He had bruises all over, and the faint smell of blood covered him. _'Hinata has some really sadistic ideas of a game. But that's what makes them so fun, I guess.' _He took Hiramekarei off his back and laid it on the couch. _'Sasuke burnt through the wrappings again… and my shirt as well. Oh well. I needed to buy some new clothes anyway. I'll go tomorrow before training.'_ He looked up at the moon through his window. _'Guess it's time to sleep.'_ He moved to get into bed, but before he did, he had an urge to do something he never had before. He turned around to Hiramekarei. Already, the sword was repairing its bindings. It would be as good as new in the morning. "Good night, Hiramekarei." said Naruto. Nothing happened, although the boy didn't expect anything to. He turned back to his room, went inside, and shut the door.

Naruto awoke the next morning feeling… different. Stronger than he had been before going to sleep. Shrugging it off, thinking it was natural, he threw on a plain white t-shirt and went off to buy some new clothes.

Naruto was getting angry. Every store he had gone to had kicked him out or wanted him pay loads so he couldn't afford it. He looked up at the store in front of him. Higurashi General Store was what he read off the sign. He hoped that this store wouldn't kick him out. If they did… well, he wouldn't know what to do. He sighed and walked through the door. Inside, he saw scrolls, clothes, books and the like. But the thing that dominated the entire store? _Weapons._ Kusari-gamas, shuriken, staffs, axes, katanas, even zanbatō and broadswords. _'Hinata would have a field day in here. Hell, I'd love it here if it wasn't for Hiramekarei.'_

"Hello, customer-san! Welcome to Higurashi General Store! How may I help you?"

Naruto looked up at the counter to see a girl about his age. Her hair was done up in twin buns and she wore a pink Chinese style sleeveless blouse. "Umm, I'm just looking for some new clothes. If you could help me pick them out that'd be great."

"Alright then! What type of clothes do you like?" asked the counter-girl.

"Well, I mainly like…"

Naruto stood decked out in new clothes. He had on a black sleeveless shirt with the words 'WARNING! You have been warned.' on it in neon orange letters. He had on black fingerless gloves with metal guards on the back of them. He had navy blue trousers reaching right down to his black shinobi sandals. Finally, he had a light-brown cloak that covered the whole of Hiramekarei except for the twin handles and reached down to his ankles on top of it all. He left the front of the cloak open, allowing people to see his shirt and trousers. All of this was made out of an extremely fire retardant material, so it wouldn't burn off to most fire jutsu.

"Okay, that all comes down to… 3700 ryo." said the counter-girl.

Naruto paid and left. As soon as he left, he went over to the Hokage Tower to ask about his problem with the Water Clone Jutsu.


	3. Chapter 2: Cod

**Flounders and Fishcakes**

**Chapter 2: Cod**

**Hello everyone! I'm not dead! And I have absolutely no excuse for my absence! So here's a chapter**

**To those annoyed or disappointed in Naruto's choice in shirt: He's freaking **_**eight.**_** Get over it.**

**Shizuka's abilities are inspired by Rathanel's Naruto: Ramen Days story.**

Shizuka opened her eyes. She was floating in a featureless grey void. "Where… am I?" Her eyes widened at hearing another voice.

**Name:**

Shizuka waited for it to continue. After a while, she realized it was prompting her to speak. "S-**Shizuka**. Just Shizuka."

**Village:**

**Konoha**

**Suna**

**Kiri**

**Kumo**

**Iwa**

"Umm, **Konoha?"**

**Path:**

**Black Destroyer**

**Radiant Protector**

**Azure Arcanist**

**Wyrmtamer**

**Bladed Shadow**

Getting the hang of things now, Shizuka thought of her choice and answered. **"Bladed Shadow."**

**Statistics Points: 10**

**Strength: 7 (+0) – Physical strength**

**Speed: 8 (+0) - Speed**

**Intelligence: 10 (+0) – Jutsu/Ability strength**

**Endurance: 5 (+0) – Physical endurance and robustness**

**Spirit: 8 (+0) – Chakra capacity**

Shizuka thought, and decided to focus on speed, endurance and intelligence for now. **"+4 to Endurance, +2 to Speed, +2 to Intelligence, +1 to Spirit, and +1 to strength."**

**Abilities: 15/15**

**Shadow Skill:**

**Fade to Black: (0/10)**

**Inky Black: (0/20)**

**Shade Destruct: (0/3)**

**Blade Saint:**

**Flurry Swipe: (0/5)**

**Slashing Blow: (0/5)**

**Crush Blade: (0/3)**

**Cross Slash: (0/20)**

**Dark Soul:**

**Black Earth: (0/50)**

Shizuka decided quickly. **"+3 to Shade Destruct, +2 to Crush Blade, +5 to Inky Black, and +5 to Black Earth."**

**Traits: 1/1**

**Luck of the Kami (0/1)**

**Temptress: (0/1) **

**Serious!: (0/1)**

Shizuka had no idea what this was about, so she picked one at random. **"Serious!"**

**Character Overview**

**Name: Shizuka**

**Level: 5 Exp: 0 Class: Konoha Citizen (Level Limit: 10)**

**Village: Konoha**

**Path: Bladed Shadow**

**Statistics:**

**Strength: 8 **

**Speed: 10 **

**Intelligence: 12 **

**Endurance: 9 **

**Spirit: 9 **

**Abilities:**

**Shade Destruct: Mastered!**

**Crush Blade: 2/3**

**Inky Black: 5/20**

**Black Earth: 5/50**

**Traits:**

**Serious!**

**Is this okay? YES/NO**

"**Yes."**

As soon as the word escaped her lips, she was rushed forwards through an opening in the murky grey, and found herself in a random apartment. She was wearing new clothes: a black leather jacket, a grey top with short sleeves that didn't reach her belly button, slightly lopsided skin-tight shorts that reached halfway down to her knees, and a chainmail mesh under her top. A black leather belt was also right above her shorts. She was also wearing black ninja sandals. Her brown hair had blue-green strands running through it, and reached down to the small of her back. As she watched, a pitch-black broadsword materialised in front of her. She knew that the blade was unquestionably hers. The hilt was decorated with dark purple wing-like designs, while the handle itself was as dark and black as the blade. Shizuka picked up the blade and marvelled: It felt like the blade was made for her! The sheath was plain and undecorated: Black, with a red stripe running through the middle. She sheathed the beautiful ebony blade and strapped it to her belt. Deciding to familiarize herself with her surroundings, she decided to leave the building.

As Shizuka was talking a stroll through the training grounds, taking in her surroundings, she wasn't aware of a battle taking place until she heard the sound of whistling air. She unsheathed her sword and slashed in one fluid movement, splitting apart the stray wind jutsu headed for her. The one who had launched the jutsu watched in surprise. _'Hmm. She's good. Maybe as good as us!'_ thought Naruto. Leaping out of his hiding spot, Naruto swung his two handled blade down at Shizuka, who blocked with her own sword. "You fight like a natural. You're almost as awesome as Hinata-chan!"

"What? What are you-"At that second, a wave of strange red material flew at the duo.

"Crap, Sakura's attacking!" Pushing off of Shizuka's stomach, Naruto flew towards the red wave, screaming **"Hiramekarei Unleashing: Mallet!"** Hiramekarei mutated and transformed into a giant hammer, which Naruto used to crush the red substance. Naruto jump back towards Shizuka, flew through handseals, and intoned **"Ninpo: Hiding in Mist Technique!" **Immediately, a white mist was expelled from Naruto's mouth and blanketed the surroundings. "Alright, this is your first time, so stick with me!"

Shizuka was bewildered. "What!? What's going on?!"

"Well, every week, me and my friends train together and fight all out here. We've been doing it for two years now, so everyone knows to steer clear of here today. Obviously, you're not from around here. But you got into this, so you'll have to fight to get out. My name's Naruto. What's yours?"

"I'm… Shizuka."

"Well then, Shizuka, let's fight together!" A bolt of lightning flashed by the pair and exploded behind them, dispelling the mist. "Let's go!" Naruto rushed forward, Shizuka following. Another pair exploded from the bushes, leaping high above them. One held a gunbai, and the other had countless superficial wounds, blood streaming from them. As Shizuka watched, the blood solidified into blades sprouting from every wound, which were all over her body. The gunbai wielder launched it towards the pair, a chain attaching it to his wrist. The one with the full body blood-blades started spinning at high speed, becoming a deadly buzz saw. Naruto was about to deflect the gunbai when Shizuka slid in front of him with a dark power in her eyes. She grabbed the end of her sword, pointing it at the two in the air, and thrust it forward, shouting **"Shadow Skill: Shade Destruct!" **A large, dark energy wave flew at the airborne duo, shattering the blood-blades and deflecting the war fan while damaging the two, sending them down to earth.

Naruto gaped. "What was _that!?_"

Shizuka was awestruck as well. "I-I don't know. Something just… told me to scream it, and then…" _'Those abilities the voice was talking about, I have to shout their names to activate them? Well then, I think I just became a lot more capable.'_ "But I _do_ know what I'm doing now. Let's go, Naruto!" Shaking the awe away, Naruto grinned. He liked this girl.

"Let's see what this one does! **Shadow Skill: Inky Black!"** Tendrils of spiked darkness rose from her shadow and shot towards Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura dodged the unwieldy spears, while Sasuke quickly retracted the chain connected to his gunbai and used the war fan to block the shadows, and they were sucked into it. **"Uchiha Return." **whispered Sasuke. A black energy blast, as dark as the shadows that had just attacked Sasuke shot out of the fan, with the same collective force as the tendrils that he had blocked. Shizuka and Naruto barely dodged the unexpected attack, but Sasuke was already flying through handseals and fired off a **Katon: Phoenix Sage Fire Nail Crimson**, throwing the chakra-infused shuriken at the duo. However, several blue energy beams impacted the shuriken, shattering them and ending the technique. At the same time, a fast-moving shadow with some sort of blade on its wrist leapt and slashed at Shizuka, who blocked with her sword. The figure jumped back, flicked its sky-blue hair back and grinned. "Not many weapons could stand up to my **Shōton: Jade Crystal Blade.**"said Senju Hinata. "That's a good sword you got there."

At her welcoming tone, Shizuka lowered her guard a little, but didn't let up her stance. The purple wrist-blade on Hinata's wrist cracked and shattered, no longer needed. "Relax, Shizuka, we're done. Sakura needs a blood pill, Hinata and Sasuke are out of chakra, and I need to do a little maintenance on Hiramekarei. We've finished; but you better be here next week. In fact, I'm gonna make a request to jii-san that you join our academy class."

**Event: A Friendly Spar – CLEARED!**

**Experience Gained: 450**

**Spoils of War: None**

**Level Up? Yes/No**

Time had stopped for everyone except Shizuka. **"Yes."** she replied.

**Level Seven**

**Strength: +4! **

**Speed: +3!**

**Intelligence: +2! **

**Endurance: +1!**

**Spirit: +2!**

**Gained 5 Ability Points!**

**Allocate Now? Yes/No**

Shizuka declined this one.

**Time skip? Yes/No **

Not knowing what this one meant, Shizuka answered **"Yes."**

And just like that, Shizuka was swept up in the current that was Naruto. She quickly became one of their closest friends, and she joined the inseparable quartet.


End file.
